Are goji berries safe during pregnancy?

Nobody can say from the evidence, because we found no study that gave goji berries, juice or extract to pregnant women and measured anything. The largest pooled set of goji trials, a 2023 meta-analysis, covers 6 small randomized trials in 309 adults and does not mention pregnancy. The nearest human data come from a Chinese multi-herb pill that contains goji, given to women having IVF until 5 weeks after embryo transfer. In a double-blind trial of 1,467 women it showed no difference in fetal or newborn adverse events. The documented risks of goji are allergy and a bleeding interaction with warfarin, and they apply in pregnancy as at any other time.

Unsettled. The answer is open for a reason we can name. There is no trial, no cohort and no case series of goji in pregnancy. The only pregnancy data are for a mixture of herbs at an unstated goji dose, in the first weeks of IVF pregnancies. That cannot tell you what a handful of dried berries does in the second or third trimester.

What the trials found

Goji itself

Trials of goji are few and none is about pregnancy. The 2023 meta-analysis pooled 6 randomized trials of goji fruit or extract in adults aged 23 to 58, mostly in China, with 40 to 67 people in each. It looked at blood fats and found HDL cholesterol 5.4 mg/dL (0.14 mmol/L) higher with the fruit and a healthy diet. A 2022 meta-analysis of goji polysaccharide, a concentrated extract, included 7 articles on blood sugar and blood fats, and none on pregnancy.

The multi-herb pill in IVF

Zishen Yutai Pill is a traditional Chinese product whose herbs include Lycium barbarum, the goji plant, alongside Panax ginseng and others. In a double-blind placebo-controlled trial in 12 Chinese hospitals, 1,467 women aged 35 to 42 having IVF took 5 g three times a day or placebo, continued to 5 weeks after embryo transfer if they became pregnant. Fetal and newborn adverse events and pregnancy complications did not differ between groups, all p above 0.05. Live births were 23.3% on the pill and 19.0% on placebo.

A 2026 meta-analysis of 18 Chinese randomized trials of the same pill in 5,660 women having IVF found no serious adverse events and no teratogenic effects reported. Only 5 of the 18 trials reported side effects at all, and the authors rated the certainty very low. Across the 4 trials with countable data, mild side effects such as nausea, constipation and rash occurred in 11.1% of 244 women on the pill and 5.8% of 345 controls. That is a mixture of herbs taken as a medicine in very early pregnancy. It is indirect evidence for eating goji berries, and absence of reported harm in poorly reported trials is not proof of safety.

Animal data

In rats, mothers given goji extract while nursing had male offspring with lower weight gain and better blood fats in adulthood. That was lactation, in rats, at an extract dose far above food intake.

Unsettled. Goji is often said online to stimulate the uterus. We searched PubMed, Europe PMC and the web and found no primary study behind that claim and no study that tested it. It traces back to supplement monographs whose sources we could not read. So the claim is neither shown nor ruled out, and its absence from the literature is not evidence that goji is safe.

Who should be careful

Not for everyone. If you take warfarin, goji can raise your bleeding risk. A 71-year-old woman on warfarin was hospitalized with bleeding and a prothrombin time above 120 seconds after 4 days of goji juice, rated a probable interaction. A 2021 systematic review of 149 reports on warfarin and foods named Chinese wolfberry, another name for goji, among foods that raise bleeding risk. Warfarin is rarely used in pregnancy, and anyone on any blood thinner should ask the person treating them before eating goji regularly.

Not for everyone. If you are allergic to peach, tomato or other plant foods, goji can cause a reaction. Among 31 Spanish adults with plant food allergy, 24, or 77%, had a positive skin test to goji, linked to the lipid transfer protein that also causes peach allergy. Only 5 of the 24 had had symptoms, so a positive skin test is not the same as a reaction. The first two reported goji allergy cases, in Spain, included one anaphylaxis and cross-reacted with tomato. In a wider group of 566 people with respiratory or skin symptoms, 33 reacted to a goji skin prick test, 5.8%.

Atropine in goji is a worry that circulates online. Lab tests of 8 dried goji samples from China and Thailand found atropine in all of them, only in traces of at most 19 parts per billion. That was a small sample tested in 2006.

We found no data on goji and pregnancy outcomes in people with diabetes, on other medicines, or eating large amounts every day. That absence is not reassurance. A food that has never been studied in pregnancy is a question for your midwife or doctor if you plan to eat it often or take it as juice, powder or extract.

What expert bodies say

We found no expert body with a position on goji in pregnancy. NCCIH has no goji page, and we found no goji record in LactMed, the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements or the WHO sources we searched. The EU health claims register lists antioxidant claims for Lycium barbarum as non-authorized and holds no claim of any kind about goji in pregnancy. Non-authorized means the evidence was judged insufficient when it was assessed, not that harm was shown.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• A pregnancy exposure registry or cohort that records goji berries, juice or extract and follows outcomes. We found none.
• Reproductive toxicity studies in animals of goji fruit at doses people eat, rather than concentrated extract.
• A primary study behind the uterine stimulation claim, or a test of it.
• Better reporting of side effects in the trials of the multi-herb IVF pill, 13 of 18 of which gave no safety data.

More on this food: goji berries.

Sources

1. ev-gojp-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 309
   Overall, 309 participants were included in these trials.
   
   Who: adults aged 23 to 58 in 6 RCTs of L. barbarum fruit or extract, mostly in China, published 2009 to 2021
   Effect: 6 RCTs, 40 to 67 people each; HDL-C MD +5.4 mg/dL (0.14 mmol/L) for fruit with a healthy diet; no outcome in pregnancy
   Certainty: Inclusion was adults 18 and over with lipid outcomes; the review does not mention pregnancy at all. Shows how thin the trial base is.
   Medicine (Baltimore), 2023 (L. barbarum supplementation for lipid profiles in adults, meta-analysis of RCTs) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the full_text
2. ev-gojp-02 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis · n = 7 articles
   A total of 315 publications were retrieved and 7 articles were included.
   
   Who: participants in trials of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) found in CNKI, PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane up to November 2020
   Effect: LBP changed TG, fasting glucose, LDL and HDL (p < 0.05), not total cholesterol; no pregnancy data
   Certainty: Abstract only (no PMC); study designs and N not given in the abstract; polysaccharide extract, not whole berries.
   J Am Nutr Assoc, 2022 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
3. ev-gojp-03 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · multicentre double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial · n = 1467
   No significant differences were observed in fetal and neonatal adverse events (all P > 0.05) (Supplementary Table 5).
   
   Who: women aged 35 to 42 undergoing IVF/ICSI in 12 Chinese hospitals; Zishen Yutai Pill 5 g three times daily or placebo, continued to 5 weeks after transfer if pregnant
   Effect: no significant differences in fetal and neonatal adverse events or pregnancy complications (all P > 0.05); live birth 23.3% vs 19.0%
   Certainty: Polyherbal pill, goji is one of many herbs and its dose is not given; exposure only in very early pregnancy. Indirect for eating goji berries.
   Nature Communications, 2025 (Zishen Yutai Pill in advanced maternal age women, RCT NCT03703700) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the full_text
4. ev-gojp-04 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · multicentre double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial · n = 1467
   Among these, herbs such as Panax ginseng and Lycium barbarum exhibited the ability to improve reproductive capacity in aged models30,31.
   
   Who: description of Zishen Yutai Pill constituents in the RCT report
   Effect: goji is one of several constituents (with Panax ginseng, Rehmannia, Eucommia, Cuscuta)
   Certainty: Context card: explains why cards ev-gojp-03 and ev-gojp-05 are indirect evidence.
   Nature Communications, 2025 (Zishen Yutai Pill in advanced maternal age women, RCT NCT03703700) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the full_text
5. ev-gojp-05 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with ROB2 and GRADE · n = 5660
   No serious adverse events, hepatic or renal dysfunction, allergic reactions, or teratogenic effects were reported.
   
   Who: women undergoing IVF-ET in 18 RCTs in China; Zishen Yutai Pill alone or with conventional treatment
   Effect: mild adverse events 27/244 (11.1%) with the pill vs 20/345 (5.8%) control in 4 trials; no serious events or teratogenic effects reported; 13 of 18 trials gave no safety data; GRADE very low
   Certainty: Absence of reported harm in poorly reported trials is not proof of safety; polyherbal product.
   Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2026 (Zishen Yutai Pill and IVF-ET pregnancy outcomes, meta-analysis of RCTs) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the full_text
6. ev-gojp-06 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 589
   Across the 4 studies with quantifiable data (589 participants; ZYP: n = 244; control: n = 345), adverse event counts were 27 (11.1%) in the ZYP group and 20 (5.8%) in the control group.
   
   Who: women undergoing IVF-ET in the 4 trials with countable adverse events
   Effect: 27 (11.1%) vs 20 (5.8%) mild self-limiting events; no formal statistical comparison
   Certainty: Unequal group sizes and few events; authors warn against interpreting the difference.
   Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2026 (Zishen Yutai Pill and IVF-ET pregnancy outcomes, meta-analysis of RCTs) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the full_text
7. ev-gojp-07 · Laboratory or animal data · case report · n = 1
   Application of the Naranjo adverse drug reaction probability scale indicated a probable relationship (score of 6) between the patient's elevated INR with associated bleeding and her concomitant use of L. barbarum and warfarin.
   
   Who: one 71-year-old woman taking warfarin after knee surgery
   Effect: prothrombin time over 120 s with nosebleed, bruising and rectal bleeding; Naranjo score 6 (probable)
   Certainty: Single case; two earlier reports with goji tea describe the same interaction. Relevant to pregnant women on anticoagulants only if warfarin is used, which is rare in pregnancy.
   Pharmacotherapy, 2012 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
8. ev-gojp-08 · Observational data · systematic review of case reports and interaction studies · n = 149 articles
   These include Chinese wolfberry, chamomile tea, cannabis, cranberry, chitosan, green tea, Ginkgo biloba, ginger, spinach, St. John's Wort, sushi and smoking tobacco.
   
   Who: published reports of food, herb and supplement interactions with warfarin up to December 2019
   Effect: 78 foods or supplements interacting with warfarin; 45 potentiated its effect; wolfberry listed among those raising bleeding risk
   Certainty: Mostly case reports; does not give frequency or dose.
   Br J Clin Pharmacol, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
9. ev-gojp-09 · Observational data · cross-sectional skin-test and IgE study in a high-risk group · n = 31
   Skin tests to Goji berries were positive in 24 patients (77%): 5 symptomatic patients and 19 asymptomatic patients.
   
   Who: 30 plant-food-allergic adults in Spain, 2010, plus one index patient
   Effect: skin test positive in 24 (77%); symptoms on intake in 4 of 10 who had eaten goji; IgE to goji in all symptomatic cases
   Certainty: High-risk allergy clinic sample; not the general population. Applies in pregnancy as at any time.
   J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol, 2012 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
10. ev-gojp-10 · Laboratory or animal data · case report with immunochemical study · n = 2
    We describe 2 cases of allergic reaction, 1 of which was an anaphylactic reaction, after Goji berry ingestion.
    
    Who: two patients with allergic reactions after eating goji berries
    Effect: 1 anaphylaxis; specific IgE to goji; 9-kDa LTP-like band fully inhibited by tomato extract
    Certainty: Two cases only.
    J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol, 2011 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
11. ev-gojp-11 · Laboratory or animal data · laboratory analysis (HPLC-MS) · n = 8 samples
    Atropine was found in all examined samples in concentrations of maximally 19 ppb (w/w).
    
    Who: 8 commercial samples of dried L. barbarum berries from China and Thailand
    Effect: atropine detected in all samples, maximum 19 ppb (w/w)
    Certainty: Answers the atropine worry that circulates online; small sample, 2006.
    Phytochemical Analysis, 2006 (Adams et al., HPLC-MS trace analysis of atropine in Lycium barbarum berries) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
12. ev-gojp-12 · Laboratory or animal data · animal study · n = —
    Maternal supplementation with Goji berry extract had long-lasting effects and prevented the development of metabolic syndrome in the adult offspring that were overfed early in life.
    
    Who: lactating Wistar rats and their male pups raised in small litters, followed 13 weeks
    Effect: lower body weight gain, dyslipidemia, atherogenic and adiposity index in offspring of supplemented mothers
    Certainty: Rats and an extract dose far above food intake; lactation, not pregnancy; no human relevance established.
    Archives of Medical Research, 2026 (maternal goji berry supplementation during lactation in rats) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
13. ev-gojp-13 · Position of an expert body · regulatory register entry · n = —
    POL-HC-7525 Lycium Barbarum (Common Name : Wolfberry) Contains antioxidant/s; Is a source of antioxdiant/s. With antioxidant/s. Contributes to the cell protection against free radicals Can protect your cells and tissues from oxidation Can contribute to the total antioxidant capacity of the body Non-authorised
    
    Who: EU register on nutrition and health claims, snapshot 2026-09-21
    Effect: 1 non-authorized Lycium claim, 0 authorized
    Certainty: Non-authorized means evidence was judged insufficient at assessment, not that harm was shown.
    EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-7525, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the dataset
14. gojb-daily-r2-06 · Observational data · multicentre prospective sensitization study · n = 566
    566 individuals, with respiratory or cutaneous symptoms were skin-prick tested with GB extract. Thirty three were positive (5.8%)...LTP seems to be the major allergen involved in sensitisation and cross-reactivity.
    
    Who: 566 individuals with respiratory or cutaneous symptoms, skin-prick tested with goji berry extract in a multicentre study
    Effect: 5.8 percent skin-prick positive (33 of 566); specific IgE positive in 13 of 24 available sera; 92.3 percent of goji-positive patients also positive to peach
    Certainty: The people tested already had allergy symptoms, so 5.8 percent is not the rate in the general population.
    Food Chem, 2013 · checked 2026-09-24 · we read the abstract